Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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LANG, K. D.

(b Kathryn Dawn Lang, 2 Nov. '61, Edmonton, Canada) Originally a Canadian country singer, then turning to adult-oriented pop music, with an orthographical affectation straddling e. e. cummings and an Internet address. It was as much her lower-case name that got her noticed initially as her music, but her excellent warm voice soon acquired fans. Grew up in the prairie town of Consort, Alberta, after college falling into performance art; she was part of a wave of country that came out of Canada, but unlike acts such as Garry Baker, Danny Mack, Patti Mayo and Sandy Mason (whose songs were covered by Johnny Cash, Crystal Gayle and Don Williams), lang broke through internationally. Her debut single was 'Friday Night Promenade' '83; on album A Truly Western Experience on Bumstead '84 she was backed by her band the Reclines (a nod to her idol, Patsy Cline), mixing country, rockabilly, blues and western swing elements. She met Ben Mink '85 who became her collaborator and producer, and was signed to WB by Seymour Stein, whose past successes had incl. Talking Heads and Madonna. Angel With A Lariat '87 was prod. by Dave Edmunds; Shadowland on Sire '88 was described as 'a bungled attempt to honor the early '60s Patsy Cline sound' by Downhome News; despite the presence of Cline's producer Owen Bradley (coaxed out of retirement) and guest appearances by Loretta Lynn, Brenda Lee and Kitty Wells on the 'Honky Tonk Angels Medley', which should have enhanced the interpretations, but strings … la Nashville and a lack of conviction in her singing combined to make a disposable set. Absolute Torch And Twang '89 was co-prod. with Mink, a commercial breakthrough in both pop and country. Her pro-animal rights and vegetarian television advert '90 earned the ire of the beef industry and got her work blacklisted on a number of US country music stations; she appeared in film Salmonberries '91 dir. by Percy Adlon (Sugarbaby, Bagdad Cafe) in the leading role of 'the androgynous Kotz', supposedly written for her; the film won at the Montreal Film Festival '91 and she quipped that while acting was not her first love she would like to have an affair with it. She came out as a lesbian in the US gay magazine The Advocate '92, but her most striking use of the press was for Vanity Fair, where Herb Ritts photographed a pin-striped lang in a barber's chair being wet-shaved by a bikini-unclad Cindy Crawford. Ing‚nue '92 capitalized on her media profile and coincided with a wave of 'lesbian chic'; it made her a star, propelling her out of the country market into a wider world as well as buying her breathing space. She wrote and sang the title song for film Even Cowgirls Get The Blues '94; her South Bank Show presentation '95 on ITV/UK was a good documentary, footage of the trivial (bygone hairdos and school hops) alongside film of her working on All You Can Eat, a torchy if sometimes subdued album with rock-inflected backings; 'Acquiesce' and 'I Want It All' were standout tracks, representing a more direct style. It is a beautiful album, which is perhaps why sales were disappointing. She's a non- smoker, but examined human need on Drag '97 with a tasty band, strings arr. by Jimmy Haskell, incl. 'Don't Smoke In Bed', 'Smoke Rings', Steve Miller's 'The Joker'.